Appliance Maintenance

A little preventative maintenance can extend the life of your appliances and equipment, and will ensure they run at peak efficiency. Proper maintenance will not only extend the life of your appliance, but can also help reduce your utility bills.

Remember that dust is our enemy. Dust build-up in the lint trap of your dryer will cause your dryer to use more electricity to dry your clothes. Not only will it cost you more in electricity, but more importantly, a dirty lint trap can actually cause a fire. Dust build up on any appliance will eventually cause problems. The motor fan of your refrigerator is generally located at the bottom of the refrigerator and just move your refrigerator out from the wall and see how much dust is building up back there. Dust build-up on the motor fan of your refrigerator can actually prevent your unit from freezing your food. See Caution below if you are planning on cleaning your refrigerator’s motor fan.

A simple visual inspection of your washing machine fill hoses can save your home from being flooded. I’ve seen a few laundry rooms that had been flooded when one of the rubber fill hoses on the washing machine ruptured. If this happens when you’re not home, it could lead to extensive water damage to the laundry room and your home. If you have rubber fill hoses on your washing machine, you should check those hoses at least once time a year. You should also turn the water valve off that connects the fill hoses to your washing machine, if you are leaving home on vacation or for any duration of time.

Once the rubber fill hose weakens from age, you might start noticing bubbles appear on the hose. Those bubbles are signs that your hoses are getting old and have weakened. Once a hose gets old, pressure starts building in the weakened area and you will start noticing these pressure bubbles appearing on your hose. If you ever see these bubbles on your fill hose, replace them immediately. Sometimes those bubbles are small and unnoticeable, but other times a quick glance behind your washing machine could save your laundry room from potential flooding.

We recommend you check your washing machine fill hoses every year, and replace them if you notice any of those bubbles. If you do have to replace your old rubber hoses, we recommend going with the Stainless steel fill hoses as your best option as they are less susceptible to rupture. This one small step could save you hundreds of repair dollars and hopefully keep your house from an unexpected flood.

Remember that simple maintenance on your appliances will not only extend the life of your appliances, but will also help reduce your electric bills. More importantly, keeping up with proper appliance maintenance can also save your home from unnecessary repair bills from flooding or fire and even the appliance repairman.

Caution: Before doing any work on any appliance, make sure it’s unplugged. After unplugging the unit, check to see if the motor/compressor has a capacitor; this component is located in a housing on the top of the motor. Capacitors store electricity, even when the power to the unit is turned off. Before you do any work on a capacitor-type refrigerator or freezer, you must discharge the capacitor, or you could receive a severe shock. Once you’ve unplugged your refrigerator, you can locate the motor by removing the bottom back panel from your refrigerator. Locate the motor and check to see if you have dust build-up around the motor/fan housing. Use a vacuum cleaner and a small brush to remove the dust from the motor housing.